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Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios
may have opposite temperaments and playing styles, but they came
together to put on one of the finest matches of the year on Friday at
the Miami Open. Federer saved set points, Kyrgios
saved match points, but it was the fourth seed who ultimately came out
on top over Kyrgios in their semi-final clash 7-6 (9), 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5).

“It did feel very good, because you don't very often play three breakers
in a match. It's nice to win those and winning breakers is always such a
thrill,” said Federer. “It's great winning this way, especially because
I remember the loss against him a few years ago, It was rough. It was
the birthday of my boys. I wasn't with them and had that match, so it
was nice to get this one tonight.”

The Swiss star moves on to play Rafael Nadal, a winner earlier in the day over Fabio Fognini, in Sunday's final. It will be their 37th meeting and the 23rd time they've met in a final.

The Miami final will mark the third time they've played this season.
Federer has won both of their earlier meetings - the Australian Open
final in January and their fourth round match at the BNP Paribas Open in
Indian Wells last month.

“I feel like there is a mountain to climb in Rafa. He hasn’t won this
event before. He's definitely feeling fresher than I feel right now. But
that's not a problem. I'll be ready on Sunday,” said Federer.

“It's
definitely going to be very special playing Rafa here again. I'm
thrilled for him that he came back as well as he did after the comeback
and the struggles that he had last year. It feels like old times. We're
playing each other every week now. We can't get enough of each other.
Hopefully it's not our last match.”

Sunday's final will also be the fourth time Federer and Nadal have met
at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in South Florida. Nadal
won their first meeting, which started their rivalry, 6-3, 6-3 in 2004.
Federer beat him in the Miami final the next year, coming back from two
sets down to win 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1. In 2011, Nadal returned the
favour, knocking Federer out in the Miami semi-finals, 6-3, 6-2.

“Should be really exciting because we had this epic match in 2005. The
final was unbelievable. It was a turning point in my career, to be quite
honest. For me to be able to focus for, I don't know how long we
played, maybe four hours, smashing forehand after forehand down the
line. I remember I felt like I had to learn how to fight in matches, and
there I showed it to myself and my team that I could do it,” Federer
said.

Nadal also knows he'll have to bring some of his best tennis to capture
the title. “He's playing so good. He's playing great,” Nadal said of
Federer. “When top player like him is playing that well, then it's
always a big challenge for every player.”

Federer and Kyrgios have played six consecutive tie-breaks in their
two ATP Head to Head meetings, with the rivalry now tied at 1-1. This
is the seventh time (5-2) that Federer has played all tie-breaks in
best-of-three set matches in his career. This was also the third time
that Federer has won back-to-back third set tie-breaks in the same
tournament (2005 Dubai, 2001 Rome).

A standing-room only crowd came out to watch two of the most exciting
players on the ATP World Tour in Federer and Kyrgios do battle, and
they weren’t shy about letting their feelings be known. Whether it was
giving a standing ovation for a between-the-legs winner from Kyrgios or
chanting Roger’s name, their enthusiasm prompted the umpire to call for
quiet on multiple occasions during the match.

Kyrgios appeared frustrated early on by Federer’s brilliant hitting and
displayed huge bursts of emotion on multiple occasions, but remained
calm when it mattered most, saving set point at 5-6 with an ace and two
more in the tie-break at 5/6 and 6/7 with some big hitting. Federer also
showed off his trademark steely nerves in the tie-break, saving a set
point at 7/8 and again at 8/9 with a backhand winner down the line.

However, the Aussie’s penchant for going for broke at crucial moments
of the match may have cost him the opening set. He rolled the dice on a
big second serve at 9/9 and missed badly, handing Federer a third set
point opportunity. The Swiss star made good on his chance, wrapping up
the set as Kyrgios sent a backhand into the doubles alley.

Even while Federer and Kyrgios traded routine service holds in the
second and third sets, there were still plenty of flashy moments from
both players, including Kyrgios charging the net off Federer's serve on a
few occasions. There was even a between-the-legs winner from the Aussie
in the second set.

The drama remained at maximum levels in the second-set tie-break,
with a slice backhand from Federer on match point at 6/5 floating just
long as Kyrgios could only stand at the net and watch. On his second
match point at 8/7, Federer dumped an 88 mph second serve into the
bottom of the net as the crowd groaned in unison. Kyrgios wouldn’t allow
Federer another opportunity, firing an ace at 10/9 and looking to his
box in celebration at leveling the match.

More comfortable service holds in the third set fittingly resulted in
a sixth straight tie-break for Federer and Kyrgios, with the crowd on
their feet to applaud the efforts of both players. Their previous
ATP Head to Head meeting in Madrid in 2015 also produced a similar
scoreline, with Kyrgios saving two match points to take a 6-7 (2),
7-6 (5), 7-6 (12) victory.

However, Kyrgios didn’t learn his lesson from the first set of the Miami
brawl with Federer, gambling with a 128 mph second serve at 5/5 and
ultimately hitting a double fault for his most costly shot of the night.
Kyrgios’ risk proved to be Federer’s reward, with the fourth seed
hitting a big first serve to wrap up the match in three hours and 10
minutes.